A database may be organized in different formats. For example, a database with support for a two-dimensional table may be organized in a row table format or it may be organized in column table (also referred to as a columnar table) format. For example, in a database that is formatted in a row table, the storage sequence of the data is row by row. In a database that is formatted in a column table, the storage sequence is column by column. A database formatted as a column table may have advantages over a database formatted as a row table. For example, a columnar table may provide advantages when the database includes huge amounts of data and the data needs to be aggregated and analyzed. A columnar table also may provide other advantages over other types of tables.
Despite the advantages of a columnar table, there may be shortcomings in the columnar table where improvement is desirable. For example, some database operations may create and consume more memory than desirable and create additional processing load. Improvements may be sought to limit the memory consumption of a columnar table and to increase processing efficiency for the columnar table.